PA Education Secretary Pedro Rivera Meets with Central Columbia School District Leaders on Schools That Teach Tour to Discuss Education Investments, School Performance

BLOOMSBURG, Pa., Jan. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- State Education Secretary Pedro A. Rivera made a stop at Central Columbia School District's high school today on the Wolf Administration's Schools That Teach tour. At the event Rivera met with district administrators, teachers, and students to outline Governor Wolf's vision for improving and investing in education in the commonwealth.

Rivera highlighted the record investment in education funding that Governor Wolf has secured in the past two years – over $640 million in additional funding for programs from high quality prekindergarten through postsecondary opportunities for students. Improving access to quality and innovative programs through enhanced funding is a hallmark of the Schools That Teach initiative, where Administration officials have visited dozens of schools since 2015.

"Visiting districts around the state has been invaluable to developing effective education policies at the state level, as well as sharing best practices from districts across the commonwealth," Rivera said. "Hearing from local officials and students in every corner of the state, Department of Education (PDE) leaders can understand what is working for our schools and what challenges they are encountering."

Also during the visit, Rivera outlined recommendations the Department has made regarding changes to the School Performance Profile (SPP).

Early in his administration, the governor charged PDE with exploring ways to create a more holistic measure for evaluating school success. The current measure, the SPP was implemented in 2013 and is heavily reliant on standardized test scores, which only mark student performance at a single point in time during the school year. PDE's recommendations for the Future Ready PA Index retain several of the indicators from the current SPP; but would add new indicators and emphasize student growth.

The recommendations are the result of more than 30 feedback sessions the Department conducted solicit feedback from a variety of stakeholders, including teachers, administrators, parents, students, policy makers, advocates, industry and higher education leaders.

"It was an honor to have Secretary Rivera visit our high school. Secretary Rivera has been a faithful advocate for our students, and we are pleased to support the Future Ready PA Index that he discussed," Superintendent Harry Mathias said. "We shared our innovative Career Pathway Model, our digital conversion instructional model and how we use our resources to help all students reach their potential."

To date, the Schools That Teach tour has made stops at more than three dozen schools across Pennsylvania. A Google Map of all tour stops is available here.

MEDIA CONTACT: Nicole Reigelman, 717-783-9802        

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Education

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us